Bitcoin surge in price could result in significant environmental damage

Bitcoin Surge
Bitcoin surge in price could result in significant environmental damage

As Bitcoin mining demand increases, so does the huge amount of energy required to produce new coins. Could Bitcoin be the World’s least environmentally friendly currency?

Is it a bubble? Will it crash at any moment? Should you jump on board?

The bitcoin debate is heating up. So much so that it could even be responsible for global warming…
Heads, it could well be the best investments of this century, a financial revolution of the likes never seen before.

Flip the bitcoin

Tails, it’s rapidly turning into something far closer to seventeenth century Tulip Mania. At their glorious peak in 1637 the value of a single tulip bulb was greater than 10 times the salary of a skilled craftsman.

I’m leaning towards the tulip end of that debate. I suspect we won’t need to wait for bitcoin to reach 10 times average annual salary before it pops.

Bitcoin, like tulips, is definitely here for the long haul, but possibly at a less heady more stable price in the future.
What I hadn’t realised until today is the other story.

But what about global warming…

Despite being digital the cryptocurrency requires vast amount of energy to be produced.

So much energy in fact that despite being a virtual currency, its environmental impact is very real.
The amount of power that is required to produce bitcoins is quite startling.

Feed Me

If Bitcoin was a country, its energy requirements would be greater than 159 individual countries with energy needs just below Denmark’s energy requirement.

Each single bitcoin transaction uses as much energy as the average US household uses in 9 days.

See the full report about bitcoin’s energy demands at Digiconomist.